[asdf-devel] Tool for transcoding lisp source files and adding coding file options.

[Faré]

On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 23:39, Douglas Crosher <dtc-asdf at scieneer.com> wrote:
> A tool to add the coding file option to lisp source files is now available. […]
> http://www.scieneer.com/files/transcode.lisp
>
Very cool! Thanks a lot Douglas.

With this tool, package authors, distributors and/or users
can easily migrate their code to whichever setup they prefer
with respect to encoding —
and they don't even have to agree with each other!

> Since the :encoding file option should become unnecessary
> with the coding file option, and also because
> it would be invalid upon any transcoding, it is removed from .asd files.
> I don't think it would be practical
> to try and update the :encoding declarations.
>
Removing a :encoding specification is good
when you have an explicit coding file option.
There are exceptions, such as lambda-reader-8bit.asd,
but it's only meant as a debugging trick.

> With the coding file option on all the files,
> all that asdf-encodings needs to do is read this file option.
> The UTF-8 and other detection could be removed
> and moved into a tools such as this.
>
Until everyone uses such explicit option,
it's not too bothersome having this detection.

> If some of the CL implementations would add
> the reading of the file option as an external-format
> then the coding file option could be used by 'load and 'compile-file
> outside of ASDF - then for these CL implementations asdf-encodings
> would not be necessary and ASDF could pass on the encoding-file-option
> reading external-format which may well be the :default.
> I will look at implementing this for the Scieneer CL,
> and perhaps take a look at CMUCL, but it would be best
> optimized for each CL implementation.
>
Excellent!

However, if the code is going to spread, please make sure it is
at least as compatible with Emacs as users will ever want it to be.
Fixing N copies of the code ain't fun,
and having to handle subtle discrepancies in behavior is worse.

—♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org
If debugging is the process of removing bugs,
then programming must be the process of putting them in.
	— Dijkstra